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Tribune: U of I Officials Worried About Plunging Off a Fiscal Cliff

While Americans nervously look for some sign of compromise in Washington, D.C. as the nation comes perilously close to the so-called "fiscal cliff," the region's universities are doing a bit of their own nail-biting.

"Nobody is clear on what's going to happen," Jack McIver, the U of I's vice president for research, told the Tribune after recently returning from the nation's capital, where he said "uncertainty reigns."

While the U of I faces the possibility of millions in initial federal cuts, McIver told the Tribune that he's more concerned about the effects "on the remaining years of many research grants, and the dominoes that may fall as a result."